The Beatles sang it so memorably: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” The Toronto International Film Festival has lived it for 39 years. Without “a little help” times ten, TIFF would never be this old, this mature and this phenomenally successful.

What began in 1976 as the Festival of Festivals is now the second most prestigious and powerful film festival in the world, behind only Cannes. One-man bands such as the Montreal World Film Festival suffered — and lost its competitive edge with Toronto — when its founder Serge Losique alienated “friends” through his autocratic style of management. For the most part, despite a slide into elitism that was addressed several years ago, democracy and openness have guided the path for Toronto.

But even the three Toronto co-founders — Bill Marshall, Henk van der Kolk and the legendary Dusty Cohl — never dreamed that their cultural extravaganza would last this long to become this important to the City of Toronto and to the world film community.

We look at some of the people who qualify as Friends of the Festival in its first four decades:

• George Anthony: As the original Entertainment Editor and film critic of The Toronto Sun, Anthony was one of the reasons that The Little Paper That Grew survived its first years after debuting in 1971. Knowing the dynamic, Anthony helped provide the support that the Festival of Festivals needed early on. He provided legitimate critiques of the films but acres of space to the event, making it obvious that the People’s Festival was on its way to become the city’s biggest annual cultural event.

• Roger Ebert: The late, great film critic of The Chicago Sun Times: Although prickly at times, Ebert was absolutely essential in raising the festival’s profile from Year Two and beyond. In Year One, the film fest struggled to get Hollywood films. Ebert legitimized Toronto in the eyes of Americans. So much so that, when Toronto eclipsed New York, one industry insider jealously quipped: “The real New York Film Festival takes place in Toronto every year!” The two “tributes” in the 1980s, to Warren Beatty and Martin Scorsese, were also Ebert’s doing. Kudos to two other American film critics, William Wolf and Charles Chaplin, for their early campaigns of support.

• David Cronenberg: Toronto’s most famous home-grown filmmaker has provided key films (including his new opus, Maps to the Stars, as a 2014 gala); he has donated tons of memorabilia that led to an art exhibit; he has inspired a major retrospective of his early work; and he has given Toronto a slice of his own international credibility. Toronto could not be taken seriously if it did not have a symbiotic relationship with Canadian filmmakers. In addition to Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan is hardwired into TIFF, as are Bruce McDonald, Guy Maddin, Jeremy Podeswa, Denis Villeneuve, Jean-Marc Vallee, Bruce Sweeney, Carl Bessai and others.

• Jason Reitman: He is the Montreal-born son of Canadian filmmaker Ivan Reitman, who became a powerhouse in Hollywood for his comedies. Jason Reitman carved out his own niche with wry comedic dramas such as Thank You for Smoking, Juno and Up in the Air, all of which debuted at TIFF, which Reitman considers as his second home. Kudos to another Canadian-born filmmaker, Paul Haggis, who has made his name in Hollywood but has a special love for TIFF, as does veteran Norman Jewison.

• Danny Boyle: The English-born filmmaker not only sings the praises of TIFF for helping to launch his films in North America, he specifically credits Toronto for saving the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire from being just another straight-to-DVD release. When it won the People’s Choice Award at TIFF, Slumdog finally earned its theatre release. Other foreign directors who find that Toronto can make (but not break) a film include Gus van Sant, Darren Aronofsky, David O. Russell, Lee Daniels and Kevin Smith.

• Brad Pitt: No international star has been more seen, more appreciated and more extravagant in his praises of TIFF that Pitt. He has often been seen with Angelina Jolie on Toronto red carpets, adding to the impact. Just last year, Pitt showed up for 12 Years a Slave, a landmark film he championed and then produced, in addition to appearing in a cameo role as a Canadian abolitionist. Pitt shared the best picture Oscar as the co-producer. Toronto launched that Oscar campaign.

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